One Big Airy Family. Thanks to All Who Made 2017 Our Biggest Year Yet!

MAD MAX get-ups. Tear-away pants. 8 month pregnant rocker-moms. Puppet Judges. Drinking syrup from a skate. Beat-box Battles. HELLbros! Nordic Thunder and the 2016 World Champion of Air Guitar Aristotle! These are just a few of the highlights that made up an epic night of joy-raising and celebration of World Peace in the name of Air Guitar and our charity Right to Play Canada

The following post shares the good times through the amazing photography of Henry Vanderspek who goes by the handle Culture Snap Photography. We also have a few choice videos from our resident videographer and editor Cat Mills.

After all the shredding and face-melting, Gen ‘The Phoenix’ Leblanc – the 2017 Toronto Champ and 2016 Ottawa Champ, emerged the clear favourite and was crowned the 2017 Air Guitar Canada Champion. She will go on to represent our country at the 22nd Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland. We will all be cheering for The Phoenix, our first female Champion, to become our first World Champion on August 25th.

We have so many to thank for bringing our season to its successful conclusion…

To our 2017 Local Organizers:

Mike Erman and his team in Saskatoon who have done 2 years of successful events now in the name of charity Creative Kids. Just under $2000 raised in the last two years

Tyler Gardner and his crew in Red Deer for his three years of organizing events all over Alberta, most recently and successfully in support of Suicide Prevention in honour of our lost brother Joel ‘Hand Solo’ Zak. $600 for the cause in 2017.

George Best of the Local in Medicine Hat, Alberta for two years of successful events and just over $1600 raised for Right To Play.

Sandy Gibson from Ottawa for three years of amazing events at the House of Targ where our most recent cleared close to $2000.

Amy Blackmore and her team in Montreal for three years of Air Guitar Quebec events during her busiest time of Montreal Fringe.

To Arron Butowski and David Goetz for our two newest regions in Kamloops, B.C. and Stony Plain, Alberta. thanks for having the courage to take it on and making great first efforts in running brand new qualifying events.

To Carlos Mengual for being an awesome partner in Air and helping to make the whole season along with Toronto and Hamilton events a breeze.

To our Sponsors:

BANGER BINGO – for being the magic sauce of support for so many Alberta and Saskatchewan events. Book your holiday Banger BingoParty today.

Collective Arts Brewing for a great first year as our provider of fine suds and ciders. To Jordan, Kyle, Andrew and Elliott – you elevated our game and introduced us to some amazing judges!

Panago Pizza – our longest and most far reaching supporter. Panago has been supplying delicious za to fuel our rocking and helping us make a strong donation to our charity since 2014.

FOURCE Canada for giving our competitors some inspiration in their rocking out with Festival passes to Way Home

To The MOD Club for hosting another spectacular National Championships with all the trappings of a full-fledged rock show!

THE RE-CAP

July 15th, 2017 – Toronto – The MOD Club. This is the 4th annual Air Guitar Canada National Championships. Previous winners have been Lee ‘Brym-Time’ Brymer (2014), Jay ‘THRUST’ McNeely (2015), and Blake ‘The Canadian Tuxedo’ Johnston (2016). After a strong female showing in 2016 with all but 2 regional finals having female champions, it was only a matter of time for the glass ceiling of Air Guitar to get smashed to smithereens and for a woman to take her place on the throne. And such was the case in 2017 – With Gen ‘The Phoenix’ Leblanc, convincingly taking the championship with near perfect 6’s in the final round.

But let’s start at the beginning…

The night opened up with a comedy set by Yuk Yuk’s Joey Harlem, dressed in the finest white suit he got the crowd warmed up and ready for the show opener.

Our theme this year was Make America Rock Again. We’ve done Canadiana, the British invasion, and it was time for us to celebrate the goodness that comes from our neighbours in the South – it is impossible to argue against the contribution of the United States to the library of guitar music that we all love and adore. To help make the celebration real… we brought in two legends of the Air Guitar world, past champions on the world stage – Justin’Nordic Thunder’ Howard and Matt ‘Aristotle’ Burns. Our Host, Nyree MacPherson, along with Carlos ‘Hanzel the Manzel’ Mengual and Glen Airy Glen Rocks dropped a series of American rock classics with some Air Guitar backing from the world champs to lighten the crowd and get the point across that we were gonna have lost of fun tonight. Andrew Johnston closed out the singing with Neil Young’s Coming to America, complete with glitter showers in Red, White and Blue. Aristotle and Nordic Thunder remained to end the number with Jimi Hendrix’s Star-Spangled Banner.

Nyree took over explaining the rules and the judging system. She introduced our panel of judges for the Dark Horse competition:

Up first was Ricky Incognito! He clapped and shimmied to the Gypsy Kings, but failed to get the scores needed to move into the Championship round. Cultural appropriation did not get the win… this time.

Next came the NINJ-AIR. Front somersaulting onto the stage he attempted to assassinate the judges with his moves but failed to strike a death blow and also narrowly missed the championship round.

Then came crowd favourite and Ottawa’s vice Champion from 2016, Zandy ‘The Space Mime Continuum’ Pothier. He re-capped his Ottawa performance but was just a scratch away from the top score to land him a spot in the Championships.

Up next was a first-time competitor who signed up that day after meeting Nordic Thunder at the bar the night before. Her name is Giselle and she rocked out proper to Tenacious D for her first go with the name Gisellebus Succubus. Strong first effort but she missed out narrowly for getting into the championships.

Up Next… a veteran of the Air Guitar scene back again to try and take the prize – James ‘Thrustin Beaver’ Dalzell, rocking out to Nickleback for another shot at the crown. He impressed the judges with his beer spitting and earned himself a spot!

Our last Dark Horse of the night was none-other than Leona ‘Ri-Ri Rockstar’ Placide. RiRi was a favourite in Toronto and she also competed in Hamilton, each time taking 5th place. She earned the highest scores of the Dark Horse round with her performance of Hot for Teacher. She moved on to the championship round.

In between getting the championship order set and giving our judges a chance to get a cold Collective Arts Brew, we had a special performance from some of Toronto’s finest beatboxers: Ryan Buckspawn, Cansun, J-NYCE, and Nassar. They blew the crowd away and Nassar came out the winner of the Battle, defeating Cansun in the final round.

The order for the Championship Round was established…

Nyree was back with a new awesome outfit and ready to introduce the Championships judging panel:

THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND:

It was time to get started – Up first was Charlene ‘Cha Cha Fierce’ Gibbons. She was a Brave Soul performer in Toronto and came in 4th place in that competition. She drew first performer and totally nailed it… you can’t help but wonder what her scores might have been later in the rotation. Huge energy and insane movement. She got: 5.9, 5.7, 5.5, 5.6, 5.8 for a score of 17.1 removing top and bottom scores.

Then came our 2016 Toronto Champion, Dana ‘Dana-Saurus Rex’ Schiemann who placed 3rd in Toronto in 2017. She is easily one of the most dynamic and aggressive performers. From shrinking violet to shrieking banshee, Dana destroyed the audience with her performance to The White Stripes Icky Thump. She scored: 5.9, 5.8, 5.7, 5.8, 5.7 for a total of 17.3.

After these two insane opening performances, anyone would have been terrified to go next. All except for The living legend himself… 74 year old Mr. Bob. Mr. Bob let us know why he was there… to ‘fucking rock and roll’ as he puts it. He played to the Hippy Shake by the Beatles. His scores were: 5.8, 5.5, 5.6, 5.4, 5.5 for a total of 16.6.

Next up was the 2017 Ottawa Champion – Erin ‘ The Mother of Air Guitar’ Wicker. Erin is 8 months pregnant. She created her own candles to sell to the crowd and raised over $300 for the charity. She rocked out to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. She is amazing and we can’t wait for her sleep deprived self to rock out with us again in 2018. She scored: 5.6, 5.3, 5.3, 5.7, 5.6 for total score of 16.4.

Following the old guy and the pregnant woman was Thrustin Beavers, straight from the Dark Horse Round. He rocked out Calm Like Bomb by Rage Against the Machine. He rocked nearly hard enough with scores: 5.5, 5.5, 5.9, 5.7, 5.6 for a total of 16.8.

After the Beaver came Ri Ri Rockstar, the other lucky Dark Horse of the night. She shredded out to the quintessential Van Halen track Eruption. Like a volcano, it was hot and explosive. She scored: 5.8, 5.4, 5.8, 5.7, 5.8 for total score of 17.3.

AirHead Air-ron, our champion from Kamloops was next. His experience as a burlesque performer paid off as he knew how to tease the crowd and inventively disrobe to reveal his message on his buttocks ‘make air not war’. Thankfully not a reference to flatulence, the judges loved his performance of Rush’s Spirit of the Radio. His Scores: 5.9, 5.8, 5.9, 5.9, 5.7 – for a total of 17.6.

Following that top scoring performance was Brennan ‘Major Party’ Risling, the Saskatchewan Champion, who simply lived his name and launched into a wicked performance of Andrew W K’s Party Hard. He scored the first 6.0 of the championship round: 5.6, 5.8, 6.0, 5.7, 5.7 for total of 17.2.

After Party there came our Hamilton representative Kevin ‘Pyramids on Mars’ Estrella. He dedicated his performance to Pantera’s Dinmebag Darrell with a killer edit. Sublimely technical, his scores were: 5.8, 5.7, 5.8, 5.6 and 5.1 for a total of 17.1.

Next up was our Stony Plain, Alberta champion – Cat Friday. Always the artist he took Air Guitar to a new level, incorporating a roadie to help weave his tale of how Air Guitar can provide you with sustenance… The judges were equally impressed and mystified. His scores: 5.7, 5.5, 5.6, 5.5, 5.3 for total of 16.6

Once all the minds in the room had regained lucidity, it was the Quebec champion Adam ‘Fingers McG-String’ Reider to take to the stage. he rocked out the most insane Guitar Hero track – Dragon Force’s Through the Fire and the Flames. he killed. His scores: 5.8, 5.7, 5.8, 5.6, 5.5 for a total of 17.1.

Red Deer Alberta representative and Vice-Champion, Dan ‘Shred McGnarly’ Clark was the next to take to the stage. His bulging muscles made for some great power moves. The judges awarded him: 5.6, 5.4, 5.5, 5.5, and 5.7 for a total of 16.6. Nice gloves too.

Following up, was two time regional champion Gen ‘The Phoenix’ Leblanc. Fresh from her video shoot with VICE news, Gen delivered the highest scoring performance of the night with Green Day’s Bang Bang. We all know how this turned out: 6.0, 6.0, 5.9, 5.8, 5.9. For a total score of 17.8.

Following that slaying, and back to the Mod Club stage was the 2-time Medicine Hat Champion – Darin ‘Ebony Love’ McKay. He lit up the floor and walked away with great scores from the judges: 5.7, 5.8, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9 for a total of 17.3.

Then there was only one left. The 2016 Canadian Champ – Blake ‘The Canadian Tuxedo’ Johnston. Blake has been to the world stage and with tonight’s performance he sought to hold on to the champions title. He had all the pieces in place, amazing Canadiana, make up, a killer track. He rocked hard and received solid scores: 5.8, 5.7, 5.7, 5.7, 5.7 for a total of 17.1.

Before the scores were tallied – we invited our World Champs of Air Guitar on stage to give a special performance each celebrating their individual styles. Matt ‘Aristotle’ Burns went first.

Then Justin ‘Nordic Thunder’ Howard – each showed the crowd what it means to be a champion of this thing we call Air Guitar.

Finally it was time to announce the finalists and the song that the audience chose for the final round. We revealed the trophy, built by Cat Friday – welded from steel and painted red for the 150th birthday of our nation.

Gathered on stage were ten finalists – there was a 4 person tie for 7th place. In order:

Yes… he did. He drank syrup from a skate. How fucking Canadian is that! The Canadian Tuxedo rocked hard. But it wasn’t enough to close the gap. We thank Blake for his amazing contributions as the champ and we can’t wait for his next creation in Air Guitar. His Scores: 5.8, 5.7, 5.6, 5.5. 5.7 for a combined total of 34.1.

Cha Cha Fierce gave the best performance of the second round leap-frogging from 7th to 3rd place with scores: 5.9, 5.5, 5.8, 5.8, 5.8 for a combined score of 34.5.

Hamilton’s Pyramids on Mars was back with scores: 5.6, 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 for a combined 34.2.

Saskatoon’s Major Party thrashed for scores: 5.5, 5.7 5.7 5.9 5.7 for a combined 34.3.

Ri Ri Rockstar took to the stage for the THIRD time and pulled out: 5.8, 5.5, 5.6, 5.5, 5.8 for a combined score of 34.2

Then came Dana-Saurus Rex who hair-whipped up scores: 5.8, 5.7, 5.7, 5.7, 5.8 for a combined: 34.5

Ebony Love, always a crowd favourite, shredded on his knees for scores: 5.6, 5.8, 5.7, 5.7, 5.7 for a combined score of 34.4

Kamloops champ AirHead Air-Ron was back after a strong first round with more undressing for scores: 5.9, 5.7, 5.6, 5.8, 5.8 for a combined: 34.9

Lastly was THE PHOENIX. Her dominant first round performance would be hard to overcome, and at this point the judges had made up their minds. She followed with another winning performance and received top scores: 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 5.8, 6.0. for a combined: 35.8

The Final Standings:

The Phoenix 35.8 (1st)

AirHead Arron 34.9 (2nd)

Cha Cha Fierce 34.5 (tied 3rd)

Dana-Saurus Rex 34.4 (tied 3rd)

Ebony Love 34.4 (5th)

Major Party 34.3 (6th)

Ri Ri Rockstar 34.2 (Tied for 7th)

Pyramids On Mars 34.2 (Tied for 7th)

The Canadian Tuxedo 34.1 (9th)

Fingers McG-String 34.0 (10th)

After the prizes were awarded and the thank you were done… it was time for the group jam to Free Bird in honour of our American theme as well at Keep on Rocking In the Free World as per World Air guitar tradition. The saying goes… When you are holding an Air Guitar, you can’t be holding a gun. World Peace one rock song at a time.

To close the night – we had our favourite band from Ottawa play – THE HELLbros! We rocked out with them until 2am and celebrated a great night of doing good while rocking out.

Hope you can join us next time. Thanks for a great season! Good luck in Finland Phoenix!

YOUR LAST CHANCE TO WIN THAT TRIP OF A LIFETIME TO FINLAND

What does it mean to be a Dark Horse? Let’s say you didn’t qualify for the championships from one of our nine regional competitions. This would be your last opportunity to put yourself in competition. Depending on the number of Dark Horses, you have a good chance to take one of the few remaining places and maybe just maybe win that Trip to Finland to represent Canada at the 2017 Air Guitar World Championships.

What do you have to do?

Come up with a stage persona or stage name.

Choose or assemble 1min of music to rock out to. Then find one more 1min of music to use in the championship round should you move on.

STAND UP COMEDY WILL KICK START THE PARTY AT AIR GUITAR CANADA’s NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS JULY 15th at THE MOD CLUB

Joey Harlem and Andrew Johnston, two of Toronto’s very hilarious stand up super stars will help get us in the happy frame of mind for the Air Guitar Nationals coming up this July 15th. Be sure to get the MOD Club early to take in these two funny guys.

More about our laugh riots…

Andrew Johnston

Originally from Brockville, Ontario, Andrew Johnston has quickly made a name for himself as one of the most prolific gadabouts and hottest up-&/or-comers on the Toronto comedy scene. The winner of the Toronto regionals of “The Great Canadian Laugh-Off” in its inaugural year, Andrew was added to the Yuk Yuk’s roster, started touring and has spread both his signature style of comedy and murky-yet-puissant seed from burg to berg, having appeared at Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival, SF Sketchfest and Toronto’s JFL42 Fest.

You may recognize him from his many hours spent debasing Rihanna videos as one of the stars of MuchMusic’s top-rated “Video On Trial”; committing character assassination on unwitting college-aged kids on MuchMusic’s “Love Court”; artfully discussing the 90’s on “Entertainment Tonight Canada”; serving reincarnated-Charles Nelson Reilly-realness on The Comedy Network’s “Match Game”; and as the (brunette) star and creative force behind instant online hit, “The Sweater Girls”.

He’s best known to Toronto audiences as a member of the comedy collective Laugh Sabbath and as host and producer of “Bitch Salad” – named “Best Queer Comedy Show” by Now Magazine and as seen profiled in The Advocate.

Joey Harlem

Check out this stellar set of judges for the inaugural Kamloops Air Guitar Championships

Johnny Utah – 3 Time Canadian Champ

‘Judges be trippin’ is sometimes said. In this case… Judges be worth the trip to CJs Night Club on ThursdayJune 15th for the FIRST EVER official KAMLOOPS AIR GUITAR CHAMPIONSHIPS! In our line up of judges, we have a three time Canadian Air Guitar Champ, a CBC media maven, a Yogi, a cheeky Burlesque performer, and an ACTUAL guitarist. All of these people are quite famous and qualified to put up the 4.0 to 6.0 scores for the evening of Air Guitar showdowns.

What’s on the line? Infamy.

Material gain? Prize packs.

Travel? A trip to Toronto to represent BC and maybe if you win the whole deal… A Trip to Oulu Finland for the World Championships to represent Canada.

Our first judge is none other than Cole ‘Johnny Utah’ Manson. He’s won this thing three times from 2008-2011. He’s won bronze twice at the World Championships. Which means he’s the most successful performer in Canadian Air Guitar history. But Johnny doesn’t let it go to his head. He also runs a Gracie Barria dojo in Whistler, BC. He can also do a hand stand. He’s go it all.

Doug Herbert

Our second judge is CBC’s own Doug Herbert. He loves his rock as much as sending pictures in bitmap format, and solos that require a flailing of arms. His early morning sensibility will ensure that he will see past all the flair and fluff and judge the true air skill of the contestants. The Kamloops event was covered by CBC a while back – click here to give it a look see!

Deandra Day

Our third judge is Deandra Dey. As a yoga instructor Deandra knows how to find the Zen in Air Guitar and, being one, knows a star when she sees one!

Our fourth judge is Kamloops Burlesque star Cherry Pan Tease! With an eye for cheeky style, Cherry will be looking for Air Guitarists with some pizzazz!

Cheery Pan TeaseDave Coalmine

Our final judge is none other than Kamloops favorite front man, Dave Coalmine. Our local h’air’ expert will be looking for contestants that know how to really rock it!

There are still spots in the competition! We are looking for people who can have a good time and not take themselves too seriously. Times like these we all need to smile and dance and goof off to get out the madness. Come be part of the collective exhale to lift us up and get back to weird!

If you get inspired at the event (2 drinks in) please sign up to be a BRAVE SOUL – it’s like Air Guitar Karaoke. You can enter the competition that way! We have over 40 tracks already cut to 1min and ready to go!!

GEN ‘THE PHOENIX’ LEBLANC CLAIMS ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP – FRESH FROM THE SET OF MAD MAX 2

May 13th was a glorious explosion of new and raw Air Guitar talent at the DRAKE UNDERGROUND. Our pre-registered numbers were excellent with returning favourites and a huge contingent of fresh new faces. The following post will share photos of all our competitors, including our brave souls and our pre-show air band and mid-show burlesque performance by Red Herring from the Toronto School of Burlesque. All the photos are courtesy of Henry VanderSpek of Culture Snap and videos by Cat Mills. Huge thanks to Kyle from Collective Arts for the beer and prizing, and Fource Canada for the Wayhome, Boots and Hearts, and Feastival Festival passes for prizes, Eatertainment and Hogtown Pub and Oysters for restaurant gift certificates and lastly Panago Pizza for feeding us. We made a great contribution to our charity Right to Play Canada! Please join us at Nationals on July 15th at the MOD CLUB.

Enjoy the photos and the videos from the night. We can’t wait to rock out with you again.

If you wish to enter to compete – there is still a chance for you to join us at Nationals for your chance at the trip to Finland.

ON TO THE RE-CAP

Our host Nyree With a Microphone started the night off with some pre-competition music and an ode to Rocky Balboa with Eye of the Tiger.

She was joined by Toronto Air Guitar veteran and world stage performer Carlos ‘Hanzel the Manzel’ Mengual.

Legend of yore – Ari ‘Red Thor’ Hunter also joined the band along with 2016 Canadian Air Guitar Champ Blake ‘The Canadian Tuxedo’ Johnston who gave the mic some vox for a ripping rendition of No One Knows by Queen’s of the Stone Age.

Then some inflated goof-ball showed up and played drums and tried to sing. They called him the Winged Luchador. The fan in the suit busted… wore it twice. Value for money as they say.

We had some aces Judges: Blake ‘The Canadian Tuxedo’ Johnston, Ari ‘Red Thor’ Hunter, Joan Smith of Little Foot Long Foot, Ryan Gullen of the SheepDogs, and Kyle Wilson from Collective Arts Brewing. They had hard choices to make, but they made them well.

AND NOW THE COMPETITION!

Drawing the UNO, was none other than Toronto favourite Mark ‘Whiskey Pockets’ Slater. He rocked hard with wet booze soaked hair and custom clothing to the Cancer Bats version of Sabotage!

Next up was new comer Ichabod Fame. He did all manner of crazy mad jumps and shit. He looked like a taller, stronger version of the Canadian Tuxedo. He might as well have borrowed his costume. Though it did fit him like he went shopping in the toddler section of Northern Reflections. Ichabod was amazing and earned strong scores for Aerosmith’s Love in an Elevator as the 2nd to take the stage… see the performance below.

Next up was another newbie – Justin ‘TheJstrazz’ Strazzanti , he rocked out to assorted Guns and Roses songs. We are hoping he joins us again for Nationals as a Dark Horse now that he’s had his first taste of Air Guitar stardom.

Following was Marc with a C – who was inspired to come out and have some fun thanks to CHAMP FORRESTER. Marc kicked it to Walk this Way by Aerosmith and shook his mullet like a number 7.

Next up was Cat ‘Cat-astrophe’ Mills who put down the camera and lived her moment of glory.

THECHAMP was back. Moving his way through the audience and rocking out with his signature coif and plaid. He killed it. We’ll see THE CHAMP back at Nationals.

The living legend Mr. Bob took to the stage in a brand new get-up. Purple like Prince, he rocked out to a new tune and gave his best performance in many events. He scored 5.7s across the board. He earned a berth in the second round for the 3rd straight year.

Hard to follow Bob, but this newcomer did that and more… Leona ‘RiRi Rockstar’ Placide was electric in her performance to Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower – she lit the stage on fire and landed herself a spot in the second round!

Then came DAZ. Daz loves to point. Let us point out that Daz loves classic rock. Daz is our hero.

We saw the return of Adam ‘Holyrod’ Holroyd. He also got the memo about purple and whilst rocking out to Deep Purple’s Burn he delivered accordingly. Adam gave one of the purest technical performances of the night. I’m really hoping he joins us again for Nationals and some more mastery. Don’t even ask us what’s going on with this picture. The man levitates.

Then came another in the colour of the night our newest of the new registrants… the amazing ATOMIC PIXIE. While she was perhaps more fuchsia than purple. She did assume the position of pretzel and scored high scores for looking so boss and rocking so low. She moved on to round 2.

Then came our vet, our corvette, our ‘they’ pronoun rocket. Kit ‘Kid Vicious’ Kolbegger who must have ignored the memo and dyed their hair green for the meanest of performances.

It was time to welcome our 2016 Ottawa Champ – now a Toronto resident, Gen ‘The Phoenix’ Leblanc to the stage. She was all decked out in post-apocalyptic finery and totally showed the crowed what a re-birth looks like. The Phoenix earned the highest scores of the night so far.

Then it was the returning champ – Dana ‘Dana-Saurus Rex’ Schieman‘s turn to be welcomed back to the Drake Underground stage where it all started for her last year when she propelled and whipped herself into a champions title last year from the brave souls’ round. She couldn’t compete at Nationals last year but we plan to see her this year. She killed it. She moved on to the 2nd round. Started like this:

Ended like this.

VIDEO:

BRAVE SOULS ROUND

That wrapped the pre-registered competitors. Then it was time for the BRAVE SOULS. These are the people that come out of the crowd that night to give it a try like Air Guitar Karaoke.

First up was – Rachel ‘Namira the Cat’ . She was also helping us out with the ballots and sign ups and couldn’t resist. We hope she comes back again for Nationals!

Then came the serene meditative man Riley Boyd – a long time friend and competitor who wanted to style out and rock the slow jams for us. We expect to have him back with us at Nationals for the Dark Horse.

Then we had crazy long awesome red hair super hot rocker like a chair please – She honestly used every inch of that hair to whip up some serious respect from all the ladies and the dudes who love the locks. Please come back July 15th and do that again. So cool. and those boots.

Closing out the Braves souls was Charlene Gibbons. Or as l like to call her… Sneak Attack Gibbons… out of nowhere she shows up and just levels the place with insane floor work and super sultry Air Guitar that earned her a spot in the 2nd round. Check this out:

From that the judges rendered their judgement and we announced our top 7 performers:

BUT BEFORE THAT – we had a special burlesque performance from the incomparable RED HERRING

The Compulsory Round song was chosen – it was Dragon Force’s Through the Fire and the Flames… just make it easy on everyone. Here were your finalists:

BOB went first. He rocked so hard he fell off the stage. He was fine… he used to be a dive instructor so taking a dip was nothing new for him.

Then came RiRi Rockstar…

Then Atomic Pixie

Then Sneak Attack Charlene Gibbons

Then the performance of the night happened and the pictures don’t do it justice, but Ichabod Fame… just killed Through the Fire and the Flames. So much so that he jumped from his third place birth straight into contention for first place with perfect 6.0s.

Then came Dana-Saurus Rex – she needed to pull out all the stops and she gave it her all. But it was hard to follow Ichabod’s insanity. We expect Dana to come back with a vengeance at Nationals as she is the stuff of champions.

Last up was THE PHOENIX, riding the best scores in the opening round, she had to do well enough to hold back Ichabod and keep her top spot. She did just that. Pulling out more tricks and theatrics to thrill the crowd and the judges, The Phoenix got the scores she needed and can now proudly put herself in the history books as the first ever Canadian to earn two championships in different cities.

IT WAS A MAGICAL NIGHT. We caught these last pictures and then had to madly clean up for the Club night that was to follow quickly on our heels. Congrats to all the competitors and we sincerely hope to see everyone back at Nationals for more madness and mayhem and good times in the name of World Peace, Rock and Roll and our charity Right to Play.

Air Guitar Alberta makes its debut June 1st at Bo’s Bar & Grill in Red Deer.

Red Deer is the first event of the Alberta Air Guitar season followed by Medicine Hat and Stony Plain. Last year, Red Deer crowned their first official champ – Kaje ‘Sista Fista’ Annihilatrix. She will be back to defend her title and take on all those who come to challenge. It is bound to be another amazing night of wild performances and costumes.

However, this year will be different for one very notable reason, we are short one of our own. You will surely recall the outlandishly over the top Joel “Hand Solo” Zak. Last year, just before Christmas, we learned that he had taken his own life, leaving us all incredibly heart broken. Joel had been part of the Alberta Air Guitar scene since its inception, and as a tribute to him and his friendship, this year’s Red Deer Air Guitar Championship will be held in his honour. Joel was our 3rd place hero. We call him that because he placed 3rd in Alberta both years he competed and then again at Nationals when he entered the Dark Horse competition. On June 1st, the proceeds of the event will be donated to Suicide Information and Education. Please help us celebrate Joel and make a meaningful donation to this important service that helps those who suffer from mental health crisis.

Joel first entered Air Guitar as a favour to Alberta organizer Tyler ‘Cat Friday’ Gardner, to help him out when he was just getting his first event off the ground. Always the giving friend, Joel never even hesitated. Like most ‘real’ guitar players, Joel thought Air Guitar was kind of ridiculous, but he knew how much Tyler loved it and being the best kind of friend, he was instantly on board.

Air Guitar Red Deer is stoked to have BANGER BINGO, the most heavily sought after glam metal bingo troupe this side of the world opening the night. And closing the night is none-other then local rock super stars: TIGERMILK.

Judging The night will be Returning Veteran Air Guitar and local Radio DJ Judge Peter Michaels. This will be the 3rd time Peter has Judged the Competition.

Next to him will be Dale Zak. Dale is Hand Solo’s father and an incredibly talented musician himself

The busiest person of the night might be Dylan Cave. Along with being a judge he is also manning the sound booth, and plays Drums Tiger Milk who will be closing the night! Dylan is also owner and Pittmaster at the Red Boar Smokery.

Finally, we have Chris Pearce. Chris is a traveling craft vendor known as Ragnar the Trader that creates and sells various Viking items, his specialty is the drinking horn.

The 5th and final judges seat will be live auctioned off on the spot. The winner will sit on the panel and help decide who moves on to Nationals.

Don’t hesitate – 1-min of Air Guitar might win you a trip to Toronto to compete at the Air Guitar Canada National Championships on July 15th for your chance to become the Canadian Champion and travel to Oulu, Finland for the Air Guitar World Championships.

REGISTER TO COMPETE or show up the night of and try your hand at the Brave Souls Round. All competitors are provided 1-2 complimentary Collective Arts Beers.

BUY YOUR TICKETS in advance and make your contribution to the charity. Do it for Joel.

A big warm welcome to Ryan Gullen of Canadian rock icons The Sheepdogs who joins us for the Air Guitar Toronto Championships this Saturday, May 13th at the Drake Underground.

As you can tell by his epic profile picture. He is perhaps uniquely suited to judge an air guitar competition or pose for awkward family photos. The way he lovingly cradles his bass gives you the impression that he’ll go easy on the Toronto hopefuls.

Ryan will join Red Thor and other judges (to be announced) as they toss up the scores and help us find our 2017 Toronto Champ!

UNICORNS? Why not Air Guitar?

According to Twitter, Chelsea Miller, the popular Ottawa Radio DJ and Mid-Morning host is into: Radio. Giraffes. Unicorns. Ceebs. Giggles. Family. White Owls. and Sports. It’s an impressive list. We are excited to add Air Guitar Judge to it. Let’s give Chelsea a warm welcome to the madness that is competitive mime. We can’t wait to hear her radio-voice peep back some missives to our competitors as she tosses up the scores and helps us find our 2017 Ottawa Champ!

AIR GUITAR CANADA IN 2017

‘When you are holding an Air Guitar, you can’t be holding a gun’ – Ancient Air Guitar Proverb.

Quite truly, nothing could be further from hurting someone then playing an Air Guitar. It is a thing of zen that welcomes all who step forward to embrace it. It is said that no two snowflakes are the same. So it is with Air Guitarists. All are encouraged to participate and celebrate world peace. Like a bunch of hippies.

It’s one-minute of rocking out to your favourite song. If you are ‘good’ at it, you could win a bunch of prizes, a trip to Finland, never-to-be-denied infamy.

The 2017 Air Guitar World Championships takes place in Oulu, Finland on Aug. 23rd-25th. It is the 22nd annual competition of musical mime and well-adorned stage virtual masturbation. Our lucky Canadian Champion will win the experience of a lifetime by representing Canada at this United Nations of wacky wonderful weirdos. For example…

So in 2017, we’re bringing the love and licks with a full and growing slate of Air Guitar Championships in cities across Canada. Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Red Deer and Medicine Hat are back. Stony Plain Alberta, Hamilton and North Simcoe Ontario are in the works. Our big show National Championships is July 15th in Toronto. Registration is now open. There is no cost to enter. Prizes to be won. Bring your friends. Party on.

Just so you know…We don’t do this just because we like to jump around in spandex and rocker wigs. While all that’s, like, super awesome – we really do this to raise money for our charity Right To Play. They are a not for profit organization that helps over 1million children ever week world-wide with their programs that use sport and play to lift the lives of kids who are facing adversity from poverty, war, displacement and disease. We are always looking for new Air Guitarists, new fans and new sponsors – so don’t be boring and come out to play.

Join us in making 2017 better by picking up an Air Guitar in the name of World Peace and our charity Right To Play Canada. We had a pregnant woman, a 73rd old, a nuclear physicist, and a postal worker participate in 2016. We can still do better.

He’s primed and ready to rock out for Canada and Right To Play

Thank you for your help in sending Mr. Bob to Finland for the 21st Air Guitar World Championships!

We’ve got two weeks to gather the donations to make history. CLICK HERE

Competitor, Ambassador, Fundraiser, an Inspiration.

If you’ve ever met Bob… you know he’s the real deal. As authentic and as wonderful a guy you could ever meet. Please help us share him with the world? A terrific ambassador of what Air Guitar can do – he wants to tell the world that, sometimes, life begins at 70.

On Aug. 25th – Bob turns 73. That is the very same night of the Air Guitar World Championships Dark Horse round. We want Bob to win one of the final spots in the competition and become the Oldest-Ever Air Guitarist to play at the Air Guitar World Championships.

This is Bob’s year to join up with the Canadian Champ and take his message of world peace and his air guitar mojo for his shot at becoming the 2016 Air Guitar World Champion. Help us get him there and raise some money for Right To Play

Of all the funds we generate to help Bob, we will allocate a minimum 50% of all donated dollars to Bob’s charity – Right To Play. Once we clear our goal, every additional dollar goes to Right To Play.

Why $4000? – The math is easy…half of that is $2000. And $2000 gets him there and puts a roof on his head.

– Flight round trip to Oulu is approx. $1700

– Three nights accommodation in Oulu for the Air Guitar World Championships. $300

Why can’t Bob pay his own way? One thing we may all come to learn later in life, is that sometimes – what you get, is all you get. In short – Mr. Bob is on a fixed income with little to no savings. What he does have is largely put towards his rent and food each month. Travel and trips like this aren’t a reality for Bob. But he’s got a hell of a huge heart and the spirit to play Air Guitar like a champ in order to raise money for chairty. So maybe… just maybe we can help him do just that.

Rewards for your donations – We’ve got these sweet Mr. Bob t-shirts so you can tell people you are part of the Mr. Bob fan club.

We’ll get you on the Mr. Bob guest list for our next Toronto events.

We’ll even get Bob to share some wisdom, or drop some moves for you if the price is right. Not that he wouldn’t do it for free – he’s that kinda guy.

Please help us do a good thing by doing a good thing. Help us get Bob there to inspire others as he inspires us. Help us make some more money for Right To Play through this silly and wonderful thing called Air Guitar.